Flags on the Bayou - James Lee Burke

 

James Lee Burke has often alluded to the South's Civil War history in the past and has even set whole novels during that period, so this is not new territory for him. Flags on the Bayou, however, has the feel of being Burke's final statement on the impact that slavery and a war to defend slavery still has on America's southern region today. As he so often does, Burke reminds readers again that evil men are capable of just about any level of violence toward others - and he does it here in very explicit prose.

The novel is set in late 1863, a few months after the tides of war have turned against the Confederate states for good. During a period in which Southern commanders are trying to regroup their armies and come up with an effective plan to counter major defeats at Vicksburg and Gettysburg, New Iberia, Louisiana, finds itself plagued by a group of Southern irregulars under the leadership of a man who thrives on murder, rape, and looting.  

Burke tells his story through the eyes of several diverse characters whose fates suddenly seem to be tied together:

• Wade Lufkin - the pacifist nephew of an elderly plantation owner who has taken him in
• Pierre Cauchon - the local sheriff who gets little respect from anyone, including the military, wealthy whites, and slaves, but who doggedly keeps trying to enforce the law
• Hannah Laveau - a slave, and cousin of the famous Marie Laveau, who wants more than anything else to find the young son she lost during the Battle of Shiloh
• Florence Milton - a white woman (she is antislavery) who was raised in the North but still appreciates some attributes of Southern society
• Colonel Carleton Hayes - the vicious leader of a large contingent of irregulars/terrorists who have more control over southwest Louisiana than anyone else
• Darla Babineaux - a slave woman who "jumps the broom" with Pierre Cauchon and has grown to love and depend on him   

The novel reaches its climax at the point in which the fates of all six narrators finally collide in a cloud of utter violence and death.

I have seen elsewhere that Burke considers Flags on the Bayou his "best work." He even confidently makes that remark in the book's Acknowledgments section. I am a longtime fan (I just counted up thirty-six previous Burke novels I've read) of Mr. Burke's work, and I have to disagree with him on that point. Flags on the Bayou is a haunting novel and the narrators are memorable ones, but in my estimation, the narrative was over-the-top on multiple occasions. Some of the craziness involved made the plot less "real" to me, and lessened the effectives of what I think its intended message was. 

Rated at a solid three stars